Buffy went back to the Summers' home with two demons who were willing to do her dirty work for her. She finally came up with another plan – one she knew was going to work because it was hers. Listening to her minions' advice was definitely the wrong move. It was high time that she took full control of the situation instead of taking the advice of unreliable demons.

The plan Teh'gdo had suggested failed and she had no idea why. Looking at the lit living room, she knew Dawn had not been killed. Her new plan was foolproof. She turned to the two demons on her left, Duh'ma and Kemet. “Dumb and Dumber, check the house.”

The two demons shot each other glances before nodding. As Rohg'na instructed them, it was better to follow orders from the bitch now and do whatever the hell they wanted after she gave them what she'd promised. Without speaking, they walked up the front porch and kicked the front door down, startling Spike and Dawn who were watching TV.

When the demons broke into the house, Spike, who had been sitting on a chair across from Dawn, quickly stood up. Dawn screamed and jumped off the couch, immediately clutching at Spike's arm.

“There she is,” one of the demons said and pointed at Dawn.

Spike glanced at an alarmed Dawn; he realized they were after her and that Buffy was behind everything. He was certain, more than ever, that Buffy had done something to him, possibly drugged him, so he would scare Dawn away.

As the demons advanced toward them, Spike stepped sideways and blocked their path, giving Dawn time to back away and huddle in one corner. “You lot just don't give up, do you?” he said, his head titled to one side.

“This does not concern you,” Duh’ma said. It lifted its bulky left arm, ready to punch Spike with a sledgehammer-like fist.

Instinctively, Spike raised an arm to block the demon's attack and used the other to punch it in its thick stomach. “The hell it doesn't,” Spike said as Duh'ma doubled over in pain. A kick out to the side and Spike stopped Kemet from getting past him and reaching Dawn. Kemet fell back on the couch and roared when one of the protruding springs poked it.

Duh'ma recovered quickly and caught Spike off guard, managing to grab the vampire and lift him up almost over its head.

“Not good!” Spike said. By the time he closed his eyes to steel himself, the demon had thrown him across the room and he hit the frame of the fireplace. Dawn watched, her face pale with worry as Spike fell to the floor. He winced when his already injured arm struck the ground. Spike hurriedly rose to his feet, groaning and holding his arm. Both demons were standing before him, grinning smugly and ready to attack once more.

Not waiting for them to make the first move, Spike lunged at them, socked Kemet on its snout and assailed Duh'ma with his elbow, immediately reaching for its head. Before he could grab Duh'ma, Kemet hooked his arm around Spike's neck and hauled him backwards.

“Now, now. There's no need to be greedy,” Spike said, his voice hoarse. “You should learn to share.” He elbowed the demon in its abdomen and bashed its face with his knuckles before he spun around, grabbed its head, and snapped its neck.

The moment Spike turned to Duh'ma the demon knocked him in the face. Clenching his jaw and spitting out the blood in his mouth, Spike swung and hit the demon with an uppercut. He followed that with a kick to the side of its knee. It fell to its knees, partially turned away from Spike, and with one hard, final side-kick to its spine, he killed the demon. Spike wiped the blood from his nose with the back of his hand as he inhaled deeply.

Dawn slowly got on her feet and walked toward Spike while he glared at the two dead demons lying on the floor. “Where's that grr,” she used her hands to imitate claws, “when you need it, huh?”

Spike looked up, cocked his head and squinted at her. She bit her lip to stifle a smile.

Spike was starting to relax when he heard a noise outside. “Did you hear that?”

Dawn's smile disappeared once more. “What? There's more of them?” Her lips were pressed together firmly; she was scared and Spike saw it in her eyes.

Spike took her by the arms and made her face him. “Dawn, you have to come with me. I can't leave you here alone. It's not safe for you. Do you trust me?”

Dawn nodded, hesitantly.

“Listen to me. We have to get you out of here. I won't let anything happen to you, all right?”

Dawn nodded again, this time more confidently.

Spike looked at Dawn for a second more before letting go. “Right, then.” He turned to grab his coat from the couch and quietly said, “This time I'm gonna keep my promise.” He grabbed his coat and put it on. “Come on.”

As quietly as possible, they went out through the now nonexistent front door into the yard. As soon as they stepped off the porch, Buffy came out from behind the tree she'd been waiting behind.

“Hello, Spike,” she said, grinning mischievously.

Dawn grabbed Spike's hand as Spike moved closer to her. “Slayer. Didn't know you came for the shindig.” He suddenly felt uneasy when he heard noises all around them. Soon, five demons encircled them. At least five that he could see. Spike breathed sharply. “Great.”

Buffy laced her arms over her chest, a mocking smirk on her face. “You underestimate me, Spike. I would have thought fighting with me and against me all these years, you'd know me better.”

“No one really knows you, love. Not of late.”

“Do you really think I'd leave two morons to do what I should have done long ago?”

Spike looked around and chuckled, glancing at his shoes. “So, just to be clear,” he started, and looked up at Buffy. “You're not going to make two morons to do your work. Instead, you're making five morons do it.” He snorted while he nodded. “It's good to know you think so highly of me, slayer. I'm flattered, love. Really.”

Buffy only continued to smirk. “They're not here for you.”

“Spike!” Dawn cried as two demons pulled her from Spike's grip. She struggled to try to free herself from the demons holding her.

Spike turned around. He was still struggling to believe Buffy would hurt Dawn. It was utter madness. She was her sister for fuck's sake! He started for Dawn but the slayer blocked him. He glared at her, knowing that the only way to get to Dawn was through her.

“Take her to the crypt,” she ordered the demons.

Spike watched as they dragged her away, his eyes dark with fury.

Buffy advanced toward him. “It's time to do what I should have done a long time ago.”

“You can try, pet,” Spike said, his jaw clenched with tightly controlled fury.

“Oh, I will,” Buffy said and lashed out at him.

Spike backpedaled and slapped her hand away, laughing. “You call that trying?”

Buffy stepped forward and punched him square in the jaw. “How's that?” With Spike's head turned to the side, she took out a stake from her pocket and raised it up, ready to strike.

Spike saw the movement out of the corner of his eye and caught her wrist, stopping her just as the stake prodded against his chest. He tried to take the stake from her hand, while Buffy tried to force the stake into his chest. When it didn't work, she tried to break free of his hold. They struggled for control of the stake for a few moments, and with one final surge, it was plunged into flesh. Spike let go of the stake and stepped back. Buffy put a hand to her wound, wincing in pain when she looked down at it.

“Don't worry, love. You heal fast, remember?”

Buffy glanced back up at Spike, her brows creased and the corner of her upper lip twitching in irritation. She kicked out at him but he caught her leg, twisted it and threw her across the lawn. She crashed into a tree and fell to the ground, dazed. Taking the opportunity, Spike took off after Dawn.

Buffy slowly rose to her feet, leaning against the tree for balance. She shook her head to clear the daze and staggered down the street after Spike. By the time she reached the corner, she was running. She had to catch him before he ruined her plans.

When he arrived at Restfield, Spike was able to follow Dawn's scent. Soon he was close enough to hear her struggling with her captors, and as he came around the side of a tomb, he saw the demons dragging Dawn into his old crypt.

Before Spike could follow them, he heard footsteps behind him. Buffy had caught up to him.

“You didn’t think it'd be that easy, did you?” she said and kicked him in the abdomen as soon as he spun around to face her, making him stagger backwards.

“What's the matter? You used to kick much harder.” When he straightened up, he smirked at her with his tongue curled behind his teeth. “Must have something to do with that skintight leather you're wearing.”

Buffy ground her teeth and aimed a punch at Spike’s face, missing him by an inch when he moved his head.

“That all you got?”

Her whole body trembled with anger and she assailed him more fiercely, kicking him and striking him every chance she got until Spike fell to the ground on his back. She stood over him. “Had enough?”

“Not even close.” Spike panted heavily. He rolled over, his fingers digging into the soil. “This is just foreplay,” he said as he stood up, his voice husky. He punched her on the nose and as she staggered backwards, she stumbled over a twig. She fell flat to the ground, and this time Spike was going to make the most of the opportunity.

He stood over her, one foot on either side of her torso. Clucking his tongue, he straddled her while she breathed with quick, short breaths. He put one of his hands over her mouth, and pinned her wrists above her head to the ground with the other, gripping them so hard her hands were starting to turn white. She struggled against his hands, against his whole weight, but to no avail. She tried to scream, but a muffled cry was all she could manage. She strained to look around, to see if her demons had come to help her. None of them were there. All of them were inside Spike's crypt, with Dawn and Willow – the two things they needed for the ritual.

Amber eyes focused intently on her dark, fierce ones. Spike had gone, William the Bloody had taken over.

He saw the blood at the corner of her luscious lips. He leaned over and licked it, making Buffy shudder. Uttering a low growl, Spike slowly sank his fangs bit by bit into her neck and Buffy tried to scream, tried to move. But William the Bloody was stronger. Darker. He was a monster. He drank down her blood until Buffy's body stopped twitching, until her heart stopped beating. Until she was nothing but a lifeless corpse in his arms.